| Shimbleshanks |
2nd October 2010 18:13 |
Red Wharf Bay branch
Quote:
Originally Posted by steam for ever
(Post 54163)
This line had a branch line at one time which closed in the 1930s. This line went to Benllech, which is a place that I spent a lot of time as a small child on annual caravan Holidays. Granted the cummunities served by that line are smaller, but you have to visit Benllech to see why it deserves a line. It just grips you when you get there as a lovely place to be.
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The problem for the Red Wharf Bay branch (as it was officially called) was that owing to Anglesey's geography, the rail journey to Bangor was such a long way round compared with road and, as you say, the fact that it was 'a branch of a branch' meant that two changes might be needed. Nor did it give a direct journey to Llangefni, the market town in the centre of the island. Suffice to say, the branch was closed to passengers in about 1930, after lasting barely 20 years. The LMS planned to close it completely and sell the trackbed but couldn't find a buyer, so it lingered on as a freight-only line until about 1950.
I remember as a boy seeing the remains of what I think was the goods shed at Red Wharf Bay alongside the main road. If my memory is correct it was a buff-coloured wooden building and, as this was the 1970s, it must have remained standing for a good 20 years after falling into disuse. A house nearby that was still standing and occupied I was told used to be the stationmaster's, though I'm not absolutely sure on this point. |
